The Relationship Cycle
by seek-to-enchant121584
Summary: Sometimes, you have to go full circle to find the right man. Patience had always been more of a woman's virtue, anyway. Especially when it applies to men like Will Stronghold and Warren Peace. Layla/Warren two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: This story was inspired by a recent reviewing of the movie (How could anyone only watch that movie once?) and as I was watching, I paid special attention to the chemistry between Layla and Warren's characters. There is definitely something on Warren's side. I'm thinking if he wanted, he'd be the type to love from afar, thinking himself not worthy enough of the woman he loved. But that's just me. This story will be a two-shot: the first half is about Will and the second is Warren's. And yeah, I realize that I've started yet _another_ story whilst still having two others open. What can I say? I'm trying to purge my brain so I can get back into writing my other ongoing stories. The title was given to me by a friend that proofread this for me.

Music suggestions: 'Wish I' by Jem, 'Better sorry than safe' by Halestorm.

Disclaimer: Sky High doesn't belong to me. Kind of like all the other fandoms I've written for thus far.

The Relationship Cycle

What she had with Will was good, she wasn't about to deny it. It had been pretty amazing, to be honest. Will was a very attentive and doting boyfriend who definitely wasn't afraid of a little PDA to show his girl how much he really loved her and being in her company. They'd had what most couples only dreamt of.

"_Hey Layla. How were your morning classes?" Will asked enthusiastically, pulling in beside her from an adjacent hallway. It was their first day back of their sophmore year. He looped an arm around her waist and placed a quick peck on her cheek before she replied._

"_You should know. You were there with me for the first two." Layla answered with a smile and a slightly chastising tone._

"_Really? I don't remember seeing you there. Are you sure?" Will teased, looking confused as he tugged at one of her braids playfully. "You are my girlfriend. Pretty sure I'd remember if you had been."_

"_You're funny, you know that?" Layla deadpanned, half-heartedly shoving him away and continued towards her locker._

_Will laughed as he stumbled away from her a few steps before running back to her side as if a magnet were pulling him back to her._

"_Perhaps you could give me a reminder. You know, to help with the memory retrieval process." Will requested mock seriously, leaning against the locker next to her as she spun the combination into hers. Layla sent him an impassive look with one eyebrow raised before opening her locker and sliding a couple books into it._

_Will countered the look with one of the sweetest lopsided grins as he lifted one hand to her face, rubbing his thumb back and forth gently. Layla relented and a smile blossomed on her own lips._

"_Alright, fine." Layla replied, setting her bag on the floor between them as she looked both directions to make sure no teachers were loitering within detention writing distance. "But really. You shouldn't pretend to forget about me just to get me to kiss you. You know an excuse isn't required."_

They'd had the sparks as well as the friendship and they retained that chemistry for a long time. Nothing about their relationship had been rushed, either. They didn't even make love until the end of their junior year. Prom night that year was one of those memories that she would never regret or forget. That aspect of their relationship had been pretty spectacular and she was glad they decided to wait as long as they had.

"_Are you sure about this?" Will asked, laying slightly on top of her as he teased at the strap of her dress. The lights were dimmed, the hotel door was triple locked, and Will had even thought to bring a few candles. She'd passed up sure awhile ago._

"_Will. I've known you practically my whole life and we've been best friends for just as long. We've been dating for the past two years and been slowly working our way up to this moment. I've never been more sure about anything." Layla replied in a steady tone, her expression as confident as her tone._

_Looking down, she continued unbuttoning the white dress shirt that he'd interrupted her from. Once she was finished and pushed it down his shoulders, he pulled away to throw the shirt to the floor. Before he could lean back over her, she pressed him down onto his back. Smiling seductively at his questioning gaze, she hiked her dress up and maneuvered into an easier dress removing position by straddling him._

"_Isn't it your turn now to do a little undressing?" Layla asked coyly, putting his hands at either side of the hem of the dress. "I even made it man-hand accessible just for the occasion."_

Their relationship was also safe and predictable. And perhaps that is what had killed it in the end.

"_Layla. Layla!" Will called out, racing to catch up with her after their graduation ceremony. She turned away from her parents as Will grabbed her up off her feet and swept her around in a circle, whooping happily as he did so. "We made it! And with only one more crazy trying to take over the world through the school. We're still alive!"_

_Layla rolled her eyes as she laughed along with him._

"_Will, put me down!" Layla ordered between giggles._

"_So we're still meeting everyone tonight at the Paper Lantern, yeah?" Will asked as he righted her on the ground and put some space between them._

"_Why wouldn't we? It's what we do every Saturday night, silly." Layla replied, making a face. "Why would tonight be any different?"_

They stopped having sex. She didn't even realize it right away and she couldn't say the last time they had. It just hadn't felt..._fun _anymore. They progressively became less intense and more like routine. They hardly even kissed anymore.

"_Will?" Layla asked from her garden nook as he sat on her couch watching the evening news._

"_Hmm?" Will mumbled out, only half-listening to her._

"_I was thinking that maybe tonight, if you wanted, we could..." Layla began to ask, being cut off by Will's "superhero" cell phone. He held up his finger as he answered the phone._

_Layla waited patiently for him to tell her he was off to save the world with his parents once again._

_Replying in short, serious replies, he ended the call and looked up at her apologetically._

"_It's alright. It wasn't all that important anyway." Layla said, waving off the apology before it could make it's way past his lips._

"_Brunch tomorrow at my place?" Will asked, standing beside her as she opened the window that led to the fire escape._

"_Yeah, sure." Layla agreed, forcing a smile._

They had never lived together, but she knew it was ending when they didn't even sleep over at each others' apartments at all. As well as when they stopped leaving possessions at each others' places, and started collecting objects that had in the past taken up permanent residence. His spare uniform hadn't been returned to its place beside hers in months.

It was one simple phrase that sealed the deal one cold November night.

"_We're over, aren't we?" Will asked quietly as they both sat on her couch, watching TV with her laid back on his shoulder._

_She didn't even have to ask what he was talking about, she'd known for awhile._

"_Yeah, I think so." Layla replied in the same hushed tone. And just like that, they weren't Layla and Will, the 'it' couple of their generation. They were Layla and Will, the same old 'just friends' they'd always been._

It didn't hurt when it ended. When she first started daydreaming about how their life would be together, she could imagine very clearly how heartbroken she'd be if they ever went their separate ways. She couldn't ever imagine _not_ being in love with Will. But here she was almost five years after they started dating, feeling almost as if a weight had been lifted. She thought she'd be terrified of being alone. But she wasn't scared. She had a feeling that there was something out there waiting for her, a purpose waiting to be taken up. All she had to do was be patient.

And if there was anything she could rely on, it was her patient nature.

oooooouooo*oooooozooo*oooooorooo

(Hiding face behind hands and peeking through fingers) Well? How'd I do? Was it rushed, or not enough detail to any particular aspect you think should have been? Was it confusing? I tried dividing up all the different memories, but it didn't look right to me. It's part of the reason why I divided the story into two chapters. I've always pictured when I think of Layla and Warren as a couple, that it would take time. I think that Layla and Will are good together and I like that they ended up together in the movie. But then there's Warren, hastily patched up with the "Ice girl" to make it all happy that their powers cancel each other out. Well, that's all nice and dandy I suppose, but I read way too much into...pretty much everything and that wasn't good enough for me. And then I started reading Layla/Warren fanfiction and now I'm totally hooked to the ship. Back to my point: after all the time Layla spent pining after Will, I seriously doubt she'd be the type to just drop him like a hot potato less than a year later. They've been best friends since childhood, it would take time for a romantic spike such as theirs to come back down to friendship levels. Anyway, this has gone on for way too long. Be posting the second half soon!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Well, here we go. Part two of two. I think I overdid the whole talking before the story in the last chapter, so I'm going to keep it simple this time.

Music suggestions: 'The unknown' by Crossfade, 'All or nothing' by Theory Of A Deadman, 'Hot' by Avril Lavigne.

Disclaimer: The same applies to this chapter as it did the last.

2-The relationship cycle

It didn't take her much longer to discover that there was another important man in her life. One that was more likely to stay in the shadows and let others take the lead in the light rather than draw too much attention to himself. A man that didn't put nearly enough credit behind himself than he deserved. One that fought like hell to throw off the presumptions of strangers that thought he was just like his father. Another man that would go to the ends of the earth to try and protect her. Regardless of whether or not she wanted him to.

She and Warren Peace had never really been the best of friends, per se. He was a boy and she was a girl. And if one really paid attention to all the romantic comedies out there, there really was no way a girl and a guy could be best friends without the whole "feelings and benefits" aspect coming up at some point. Um...hello? She _kind_ of had experience in the area. They talked, kept in touch. It was physically impossible not to. He was one of Will's best friends and co-workers and they worked well together, in as well as out of the superhero world.

It was six years after her world collided with Warren's that she noticed what kind of effect Warren Peace could have on her. She recalled faintly that he could be charming when he wanted to be. Will told her a few months after the homecoming dance their freshman year that he hadn't even intended to show up at the dance _and _that Warren had known Will wasn't coming. It was only due to Sue Tenney's nefarious plan that had brought him. So she found out, inadvertently, that Warren _still_ showed at the dance despite the fact. Wearing a tux, no less.

And alright, she'd be willing to admit that he was just as hot as his power. Especially when he showed up at the dance for no other reason than to not leave her hanging, his facial expression resembling something that looked as if he'd been shoved in with the doors all shut and locked behind him. It had actually been kind of sweet.

And a little awkward.

The feelings didn't really register until they'd been accidentally forced to team up together. It was the first time she realized that Warren actually _cared_ about her well being and what he'd do to keep her safe.

She found out that they _also_ worked well together in the superhero world. But somehow, just like Will, he also almost managed to get himself killed in the process.

_She glared at him, hands on her hips once they made it back to her loft apartment, door securely shut behind him. It wouldn't look well if the rest of the world saw allied superheroes bickering._

"_Don't give me that look, hippie. I'm still alive, aren't I?" Warren grumbled, fingering what was left of the freshly shorn locks. They all had to grow up sometime and he got tired of always pulling his hair back in a ponytail. The red streaks still spiked out defiantly here and there, because some things were too hard to give up. Like the woman standing before him, looking as if she'd love nothing more than to finish off what the latest supervillian had just tried to do._

"_You walked right into that." Layla snapped in a reprimanding tone, yanking off her mask and tossing it on the coffee table beside her. "You knew he could manipulate air molecules. You were also aware that he had a limited range. We could have, and were, defeating him effectively from a safe distance. What did he do to provoke you into getting so close?" Layla finished curiously, head tilted inquiringly._

"_Do you mind if I borrow your shower?" Warren asked, changing the subject. As most supervillians were prone to do, he attacked a superhero's weaknesses, and this one had been lucky enough to grasp at the correct straw. Warren had gotten better at controlling his temper. Not much could spark it enough to make him act like an idiot anymore. Threatening his mom or close friends came real close. However, the number one position that made him snap at the slightest provocation was reserved for the only other woman in his life that cared for his well being rather than just how powerful he was. The only other woman that understood the way his mind worked and could manipulate him into doing just about anything she wanted. The one woman that could make him act with his heart before his head._

_It was too bad she didn't realize just how much power she had over him. Probably had from the very beginning._

_Layla growled quietly in frustration, but she swept her arm across the room in a welcoming gesture towards her bathroom. He brushed past her, ducking his head as well as her gaze._

_Nothing happened after their first encounter. Well, other than him stepping out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his perfectly sculpted everything and scrubbing another towel against his damp head._

"_What?" he asked in a confused tone, looking down at himself and back up to her stupefied gaze. She supposed in his head, there was nothing wrong with walking around practically naked in a woman's home. But to her...it was the first time a man had been naked in her apartment since Will. It was a very big deal in her book. She threw the oversized pile of clothes that Will had never collected and booked it into the refuge of her bedroom real fast._

It only got more intense from there.

It was when he dropped off a change of clothes before they went out on another mission together.

"_Just in case." he quipped with a wry grin and that deep smoky tone that made her knees melt the tiniest bit._

It was the third time he took a shower at her place when he crashed on her couch. The first time a man had stayed overnight since Will.

_They both trudged through the door, dragging their feet and looking like death warmed over. Closing the door, Layla leaned her back and head against it as she slid to the floor, not caring how her legs looked spread akimbo. Warren didn't seem to be much better off, not paying her any heed as he fell back onto the couch with one arm draped over his eyes._

"_Remind me again why I keep doing this." Warren asked, his tone as scorched and torn as the leather uniform he sported._

"_Because you don't want to see the world overrun by terror and mayhem." Layla answered, repeating the same litany she always did. "And for all the hot and undoubtedly easy women that throw themselves at your feet in gratitude."_

"_Oh, right. How could I forget that?" Warren said, forcing enthusiasm into his tone. Then he groaned painfully as he sat forward on his knees. "Why did this one have to be so obstinate and time-consuming? Otherwise being an all-around pain in the ass?"_

"_Because they have no consideration when it comes to our personal lives." Layla retorted bitterly, pushing her mask up to hold her hair back from her face. "Go ahead and take your shower first. I'm just going to sit here for awhile and work on the motivation to get up. You can crash on the couch if you want afterwards."_

"_Alright." Warren said in a surprised tone, grunting as he pushed himself to his feet. She'd never asked him to stay before. "I might do that."_

_She looked up at him slowly with an eyebrow raised as he came to a stop at her feet. Extending his hand to her, he waited for her tiny hand to slide into his. _

"_Come on now, up we go." Warren commanded softly with a small encouraging grin._

It was two months after they started working together full-time as a team that she commented casually that after all the times he returned home with her after a mission, he should just move in with her. He already had a toothbrush, body wash, and shampoo in her bathroom. He also had a change of clothes for a casual, workout, as well as formal occasion in her hall closet. Don't ask about the formal. He had one of his spare uniforms hanging beside hers hidden behind the trap wall that came with the apartment. She even kept a couple of his preferred breakfast foods stocked in her refrigerator since he wasn't exactly fond of the vegan lifestyle she adhered to.

He practically lived there already.

"_There's only one way I'll ever live with a woman." Warren stated in a husky tone, his voice full of the same intent that was present in his eyes as he closed the distance between them and pressed her into the kitchen island behind her. "It starts with me seducing her for months on end, followed with unbelieveably pleasurable, tension breaking sex."_

_"Oh. Sounds time consuming." Layla said nonchalantly, focusing her gaze to the floor and shrugging her shoulder. Her insides were turning to mush, she was sure of it. "I don't know if either of us has that kind of free time."_

_"Well, then I guess it's a good thing I started in on you from the first time I walked out of your bathroom in nothing but a towel." Warren answered with a self-assured smirk._

_"Are you serious?" Layla exclaimed, her gaze snapping fire when it turned upwards and challenged his. "The whole time I thought you just didn't have any common sense..."_

_The rest of her retort was silenced with Warren's lips, who was unable to keep the genuine smile from creeping up as he leaned into the now pliant redheaded Gaia returning his kiss in earnest._

It was the first time she'd ever had sex with anyone in the shower. She and Will had always kept it in comfortable, "sleeping" locations.

Warren had no such issue.

"_I don't want to flame up on you if I get too, well...excited the first go around." Warren retorted, an uncertain and slightly sheepish look ghosting across his features as he led them towards the bathroom._

_Steam had literally risen off of him as he pressed her into the cool tile of her shower wall, water cascading down his back as he kissed her reverently. His hands slid down to her thighs as he lifted her off her feet and wound her legs around his waist._

_There were faint pink burn marks on her thighs in the shape of hand prints afterwards. And when they stepped out of the bathroom, she sucked a breath deep into her lungs at the sight surrounding her. Every plant she had in her apartment had vined up around the walls, dangling from the ceiling like a tiny slice of the rainforest in her very own home._

_That had never happened with Will. Ever. Sure, flowers had sprouted into bloom regardless of the season, but they usually did whenever she was happy and nearby plants._

_This...this was something else._

"_Way to boost a man's ego, hippie." Warren said endearingly, leaning in to press a kiss to the nape of her neck before pulling her awestruck body towards her bedroom._

She was finally able to open that flower shop she always dreamt of opening as her cover. And with Warren's help, she was never in any need of keeping her store stocked.

oooooozooo*ooooooxooo*oooooosooo

Okay... so maybe I cut all of Warren's signature hair. But just consider it like this... Steven Strait in The Covenant, with the same red colored highlights in his hair, and one of those black leather X-men uniforms... I think it works. And I think he looks way hotter with short hair, so there! ;-D Anyway... I hope you liked!


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